The simple truth of the matter is that not all applications should or need to run at startup. With Startup Master, a free tool from Smart PC Utilities, you can control which applications can automatically launch at startup. The application presents you with a list of startup items – you can add, enable/disable, remove, delay, edit, and run the items in the list. If you have any problems with an item in the list, the application will look up info about it online.

To run Startup Master on your Windows-powered machine, it must meet the following system requirements: 800MHz processor or better, at least 256MB of RAM, 5MB of free disk space. It is safe to say that any modern PC will easily meet these system requirements. It must be mentioned here that during the installation process you are invited to install the Smart PC Utilities Toolbar. If you’re not a fan of toolbars, you can opt out.

There’s nothing complicated about Startup Master’s interface: the main pane presents all the applications that load at startup, info on a selected startup item is presented in a pane at the bottom, buttons for enabling, disabling and adding items to the list are presented at the top. It is such a user friendly setup that even a novice will immediately feel at home.

As mentioned above, Startup Master lets you manage the applications that launch at startup. Just select an entry from the startup items list and you will gain access to these functions: disable/enable, delete, delay, run, edit, and search. The search function will look up info on the selected startup item on Google. From the Settings menu you can change the default search engine from Google to Yahoo! or Bing.

If you want an application to load at startup, you can easily do so with the Startup Master application. Just hit the Add button and provide the required info: name, target, category.

Startup Master is an open source tool released under a GNU General Public License. This means you can use it for free for as long as you want. It must be mentioned here that there’s a paid Startup Master Pro version that has a bit of extra functionality to offer.

Easily manage what applications load when you start your PC with the free Startup Master application.

Pros The system requirements for running Startup Master are very low. There’s nothing complicated about the Startup Master interface. Use the Startup Master application to manage the applications that run at startup. Look up startup items on Google, Yahoo! or Bing. Startup Master is free.

Cons Startup Master does not have as many features as the paid Startup Master Pro edition.